Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 18 November, 2018
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering ...”
(Col. 3:12)
Morning Service - 11:00 AM
Gospel Living (4)
The Gifts of the Members of the Body
[download]
[youtube]
Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 12:1-27
Text: Romans 12:6-8
I. Sovereignly Distributed
II. Collectively Considered
Psalms: 149:1-6; 89:26-32; 16:1-7; 119:57-64
Evening Service - 6:00 PM
“Destroy This Temple ...”
[download]
[youtube]
Scripture Reading: John 2
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 17
I. The Remarkable Scene
II. The Jews’ Misunderstanding
III. The True Meaning
Psalms: 132:1-9; 89:33-39; 69:4-9; 16:6-11
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services,
contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart
or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast:
www.cprf.co.uk/live.html
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quotes to Consider
Charles Hodge on Romans 12:6: “If Christians are all members of the same body, having different offices and gifts, instead of being puffed up one above another, and instead of envying and opposing each other, they should severally discharge their respective duties diligently and humbly for the good of the whole, and not for their own advantage.”
Charles Hodge on Romans 12:6-8: “Real honour consists in doing well what God calls us to do, and not in the possession of high offices or great talents, vers. 6-8. No man’s usefulness is increased by going out of his sphere. It is a great mistake to suppose because one possession or employment may, in itself considered, afford better opportunity of doing good than another, that therefore any or every man would be more useful in the one than in the other. The highest improvement of the individual, and the greatest good of the whole, are best secured by each being and doing what God sees fit to determine. If all were the same member, where were the body? ‘God is not the author of confusion, but of order, in all the churches of the saints,’ vers. 6-8.”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Monday catechism classes:
5:00 PM - Josh & Taylor (Juniors OT)
5:45 PM - Corey & Katelyn (Beginners OT, Book 2)
6:30 PM - Bradley & Samuel (Seniors OT)
7:15 PM - Alex, Jacob & Nathan (Essentials)
Tuesday Bible Study at 11 AM will compare the four bloody OT offerings and explain how together they picture the work of Jesus Christ.
Belgic Confession Class will meet this Wednesday at 7:45 PM to continue our study of Article 35 on the Lord’s Supper.
S. Wales Lecture: Rev. Stewart will speak on “Two Men From Trier: Karl Marx (and Communism) and Caspar Olevianus (and the Heidelberg Catechism)” in Margam Community Centre on Thursday, 22 November, at 7:15 PM.
Ladies’ Bible Study meets this Friday at 10:30 AM at church to finish chapter 2 of Saved by Grace on total depravity.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s Day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Bruinsma is entitled “Prayer for Restored Joy” (Psalm 51:10-12).
Offerings: General Fund: £864.95.
Translation: 2 Polish and 4 Portuguese.
Rev. McGeown has been invited to speak for the Christian Union (CU) of University College Cork (UCC), in Electrical Engineering L1, on “Old Testament Prophecies of Christ” on Tuesday, 27 November, at 7 PM.
Rev. McGeown will discuss (via phone link) his book, Grace and Assurance: The Message of the Canons of Dordt on “Iron Sharpens Iron Radio” on Friday, 7 December, from 4-6 PM (Eastern Time), which is 9-11 PM (GMT) (www.ironsharpensironradio.com).
PRC News: Rev. W. Langerak (Southeast, MI) declined the call to serve as minister-on-loan to the CERC (Singapore). Rev. den Hartog continues to fill their pulpit. The new trio for Singapore is Revs. Eriks (Hudsonville, MI), Guichelaar (Randolph, WI) and Key (Loveland, CO).
An Excerpt from “A Case of Heart Failure (2)”
by Rev. John Heys, Standard Bearer, volume 42, issue 8
Many are the figures used in Scripture to present to us the full and rich truth concerning the church of God. That church is likened to a flock of sheep beloved and protected by the Shepherd. She is presented as a beautiful temple in which the living God dwells by His Spirit. We see her as the royal bride of Christ who enters into an intimate and endless life of fellowship with Christ. The figure of a vine with its branches and its fruit also appears upon the pages of Holy Writ to represent the inseparable and intimate connection between Christ and His church. But the most beautiful and richest of all these figures is that of the human body. “Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular” (I Cor. 12:27). “So we being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another” (Rom. 12:5). “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23).
In order to appreciate the fact that there is in the world a definite attempt to give that church heart failure, we ought to consider what is implied in this truth that the church is the body of which Christ is the glorified Head. First of all is implied that there is in that church a definite number of members and that to add one or to take one away would deface and mar the church. It would no longer be perfect. This same truth is implied in the figure of a temple. It has a definite number of stones and cannot receive one more without marring its beauty, even as it will mar its beauty to remove one from out of the wall. A flock of sheep may be indefinite as far as number is concerned and a vine may have an indefinite number of branches. But the body which God gave us—and which is a figure of the church of Christ—was designed with a definite number of members. A perfect body will have just exactly so many, no more and no less. For that reason, it is that election is the very heart of that church. Take election away, substitute man’s philosophy of Arminianism according to which our will determines the number of members in the church in the day of Christ, and you have killed that church as a body. You have given it heart failure! The membership of that church does not depend upon our choice in time but God’s predestinating grace in eternity. Take away election and you will not even have a church, to say nothing about a body. What is a body without lungs? What is a body without part of the brain? And will God receive (from man??) a body, perfect in all detail, complete with all its members, if the whole constituency and membership of that church depends upon a corrupt sinner, who must accept or reject Christ, the Head?
Then, too, a body is an organism consisting of many members and yet of a definite number of each variety. All is not eye. There are members besides the heart. There is a diversity of kind and a definite number of each kind. Here again the figure of the temple parallels that of the church as a body. Different types of material go into a building according to the work they must perform and where they are located. The foundation is concrete but the roof would not be made of such a heavy material. And in the body there is such a wonderful variety of definite members, each placed where it will serve the head best. The ear is where it will catch the sound. The eye is in its elevated place to see where the feet will go. The hands are placed on the ends of arms of a certain length—from fingertip to fingertip with the arms stretched straight out from the sides of the body will almost to the inch be equal to your height—so that they can serve every external part of the body. And did this all happen as a process of evolution? Nay, the living God designed it all for us. His wisdom is to be seen in the eye which no motion picture camera can fully duplicate, the ear which all of our electronics cannot match, the brain that makes the computer and cannot be made by the electronic computer. It did not just happen. It was designed. And God’s church likewise does not just happen. It was from all eternity designed by God to be such a perfect body. Men are not going to determine its size and whether it will actually have ten “fingers” and not eight or thirteen, two “lungs,” two “kidneys,” one “heart” and the like. Therefore, again, cut out the heart of election, deny that God chose each and every member and predetermined its place and the certainty of its being gathered into that body, and you have killed the church and made a ridiculous conglomeration—at best—of members, that might result in feet and legs connected to shoulders without the essential elements and organs between. We say at best, because, if we hold to the truth of total depravity in God’s Word there would be no body at all. No one would step forward to assemble himself in that body. Jesus meant it when He said that “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven” (John 3:3). Not being able to see he would not travel to that kingdom to include himself in its citizenry. He would have no interest in being a member in a body which he does not believe exists. And until God works and regenerates him, he has no interest at all in that church and kingdom. Since it is God who acts first and regenerates, it is also God who determines who is going to be regenerated. “No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). Take away that truth, tear out of the church that heart of sovereign election, and you have a dead mass, dead in sins and trespasses without any interest in coming to Christ, being utterly incapable of seeing with its mind’s eye that there actually is a kingdom of heaven and an exalted King thereof.
Then, also, all the members of a body have their place and work, and, enjoying one life, work together harmoniously to serve the head. Your heart and lungs serve every cell of your body. Your hands take care of the eye and gently remove the cinder that has gotten under the eyelid. Your digestive system likewise serves every cell and muscle, but the hand and mouth serve that digestive system. And so we could go on and on. Did all this come about by chance? No believer is foolish enough to say that, through a process of trial and error, the members gradually adapted themselves to such work and for a time performed contrary actions. Let one organ get out of order for just a short while and the whole structure is threatened with death. Listen to the Word of God: “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou has covered me in my mother’s womb ... Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 139:13, 16). God took great care in making our bodies and designed them in inscrutable wisdom. Does He do less for the body of Christ, the church which He loved even unto death? Take away that heart of the church, election, and you have no living organism with all the parts adapted to each other, designed with specific work to function with the other parts and complete in every detail.